Food for Thought

1972–1985

The project “In Defence of Nature” in Bolognano

From 1972 to 1985 Beuys carried out in Bolognano the project “Operation In Defence of Nature”, the Italian project with the greatest international impact: artistic, political, ecological and humanitarian actions, among them the “Paradise Plantation” of 7,000 plants (1982) and “Olivestone” (1984).

1975

A severe heart attack

In 1975 Beuys suffered a severe heart attack.

1976

Takes part in the Venice Biennale

In 1976 Beuys's work was shown at the Venice Biennale.

24. Juni 1977 – 2. Oktober 1977

Exhibition: Documenta 6

late 1970s

Among the founders of the German Green Party

The Free International University became one of the four organisations that founded the German Green Party at the end of the 1970s; Beuys himself was a founding member and lifelong supporter of the party.

1979

The retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum

In 1979 the only major retrospective of Beuys's work organised in his lifetime opened at the Guggenheim Museum in New York; it has been described as a “lightning rod for American criticism”, provoking powerful and polemical responses.